Along with the lack of chin strap, the suit contains more gold around the legs and a smaller emblem on the torso.

All of this was supposedly done to make the suit more comics-accurate. A few days ago, a leaked photo appeared online that revealed an earlier version of the season five suit. The leaked photo was met with a mixed reaction and some “fans” even went to calling out Grant Gustin for being too small to play the scarlet speedster.

Via Instagram, Gustin sent a lengthy post reacting to the body shaming criticisms. Here is just some of what he had to say:

“I didn’t cast a slim actor as The Flash. I went to an audition for a role I never dreamed I’d actually book. But, here I am 5 seasons later. I’m happy with my body and who I am and other kids who are built like me and thinner than me should be able to feel the same way. Not only that, but they should be able to feel like THEY could be a superhero on TV or film or whatever it may be some day.”

The Flash actor also touched on the photo’s relevance:

“Things have been adjusted since that leaked shot was taken, and more things will continue to be adjusted until it feels right.”

As someone who has seen both the leaked and official reveal, I have to say that the former did not do the suit justice. Personally, I have no problems with the lack of a chin strap and this is probably going to be the closest we will get to a comics-accurate Flash suit. Honestly, I’m just glad that they’re ditching the all-leather outfit from previous seasons. Criticisms towards Gustin and his weight didn’t make any sense to me either. The leaked image was taken at an awkward angle and it seemed that Gustin just wasn’t comfortable in the new get-up.

Thankfully, it looks like they did make improvements and hopefully The Flash season five will be a return to form for the hit CW series.